Chapter 154: The Trolley Problem (1)
In the weird world.
Gu Yi and many other students arrived at the examination hall, and he looked around.
Today's examination hall was an auditorium, where all students participating in the fifth exam were gathered.
Gu Yi looked to his left and saw that Chen Zeyu was also there.
The footsteps of the invigilator echoed as she walked onto the stage, not holding any test papers in her hand.
"Good day, students.
The fact that you have made it here shows that you are much more outstanding than your fellow classmates. However, to truly graduate from the Wapeng High School, you need to pass one final exam.
Today's examination subject is — death.
The rich will die, so will the poor;
Officials will die, so will the commoners;
Men will die, so will women.
Death is the only fair thing in this world and something we all must face. Today, you will confront the world's most difficult question. Only those who truly possess rationality will score the highest.
This test will no longer be a simulation but a practicum.
Please, candidates, prepare yourselves mentally.
Now, Subject Five — the Death Examination — officially begins."
A flash of white light passed before Gu Yi's eyes, and all the students suddenly found themselves high above in the sky, with the invigilator floating right in front of them.
Everyone looked down below.
The masses crawled on the ground like ants, and even high-rise buildings seemed as small as model blocks in their eyes. Below them was the capital of the Dragon Country.
Gu Yi's legs felt weak, and he quickly closed his eyes, not daring to look down at the ground.
"Begin the deduction."
(The deduction begins!)
(The invigilator takes out a scroll from her arms.)
(Invigilator: The first question, please listen carefully.)
(A pregnant woman and an elderly man are infront of you)
(Invigilator: Please choose, will you give up the elderly man or the pregnant woman.)
(You hesitate for a moment.)
(Chen Zeyu: The elderly man.)
(You look around, everyone else seems calm in their choice of the elderly man.)
(You remain silent.)
(Invigilator: Time's up for answering, 29 chose the elderly man, 1 abstained.)
(You focus your consciousness on your right hand, and the tides of the void flow from your palm.)
(You finally regain freedom of movement.)
(But your body uncontrollably falls downwards.)
(You crash to the ground, reduced to a pile of flesh.)
(You are dead.)
(The deduction ends!)
Gu Yi reopened his eyes and suddenly came up with a bold idea.
"Let's try again."
(The deduction starts again!)
(The invigilator takes out the scroll, ready to pose a question.)
(You immediately interrupt the teacher.)
(You: Excuse me, teacher, I have a question.)
(Invigilator: What is your question?)
(You: I want to know, where are we?)
(Invigilator: I cannot tell you that to prevent cheating. I can only say this is some parallel world.)
(You: Teacher, I have another question, and I hope you can answer it.)
(Invigilator: This is not a class, it's an exam. Please adhere to the examination rules.)
(You: Teacher, even if you judge me for violating the rules, I still want to ask this question. Why do we have to make 'either this or that' choices? On what basis can we use our choices to decide the life and death of others?)
(Invigilator: It's not us who decide life and death, but fate. We stand here making the hardest choices because it is both our duty and our destiny. Child, trust in reason, control your emotions, but do not let your emotions control you.)
(You: Because we are Morticians?)
(Invigilator: Yes, because we are Morticians.)
(You fall silent for a moment.)
(You had been contemplating a question: whether the people of Wapeng are the Morticians mentioned in history books.)
(Today, you finally receive a confirming answer from the invigilator.)
(Judging from the content of the exams and the values conveyed by Wapeng School, they hardly qualify as "saviors.")
(However, rethinking it from another perspective, absolute rationality and even ruthless thinking might be more suited for the role of a Mortician.)
(The people of Wapeng need to preserve the most valuable people or things through repeated choices. Because in their eyes, the weird world is utterly unbeatable.)
(Since the downfall of civilization is unstoppable, they can only select and preserve the most valuable people or things.)
(Now, Wapeng High School has become a dungeon of the weird world. This indicates that the previous Morticians have either perished or surrendered.)
(This school is the last ashes of the people of Wapeng.)